Grant Proposal applications must be in the OSPR office for review at least 5 business days before signatures are needed. See details on this page (Submission of grants and contracts) or call x7765 for requirements.

IRB (Institutional Review Board/Human Subjects) Consent form update: Beginning in AY 2015-2016, the Clark IRB requires that informed consent documents given to subjects participating in non-exempt research bear the approval stamp of the Clark IRB. The stamped document is the only consent form that may be photocopied for distribution to study participants.

Turnaround time for proposal review is normally 1-2 weeks after the meeting date. An additional week is sometimes needed for special circumstances. Note that there are deadline dates for submission and meeting dates.

Sample Consent Form

** This form should be adapted to your project and should include information about the general
nature of the study and the procedures that will be used. Also, the name
of the researcher and status (i.e. graduate student in dept) and the name of the advisor should be included on
the form.
*** Be sure to see “Other considerations” below.

Anyone signing a Consent Form should be given a copy of
their signed form.

Consent Form

The signing of this form constitutes consent to participate in the ______________ study being conducted by ______________ who is a _____________ (state if grad
or undergrad & in what dept) working under the supervision of ______________. The purpose of this study is to ______________ (describe general nature and procedures). I understand that my participation in this study is entirely voluntary. The
procedures being used to ensure confidentiality are ______________ (see #3 below).

Explain how confidentiality will be maintained (i.e. if coding will be used for
names and data) and state that names and data will be stored separately. Explain how the data will be stored and the disposition of it.

Example:
Signed consent forms will be stored in a locked file cabinet in _____________ (list location of locked storage) accessible only to ____________, separate from electronic data/surveys/questionnaires/audio/video recordings and transcripts (material can not be stored in an undergraduate's residence). Electronic data will be stored on a password-protected computer, accessible only to _______________. The information you provide will be kept confidential by assigning a code number to the data. The audio/video recordings will be erased/deleted on ___________ after the study is completed (if applicable).

Participation in this study should take approximately _______ minutes for the
(questionnaires/interviews/surveys/focus groups) to be completed. Further, I am aware that I am free to terminate my participation in this
research at any time, or to refuse to answer any questions to which I don’t want to respond.

If you have questions or concerns about this study, you may contact ____________ at ___________ (telephone number) or _____________ (email address). By signing below, you verify that you have read this consent form and agree to participate in this ____________ (questionnaire/focus group/interview/survey) and that you have received a copy of this consent form.

____________________________ (Signature) _________________ (Date)

____________________________ (Printed name)

* This study has been approved by the Clark Committee for
the Rights of Human Participants in Research and Training Programs (IRB). Any
questions about human rights issues should be directed to the IRB Chair, Dr.
James P. Elliott (508) 793-7152.

Other Considerations:

If using students in class as subjects or if using
medical patients, you must state that participating or not participating will
not affect their standing in class or their medical treatment, whichever is
appropriate.

If audio or video recording is used, the Consent Form or
Statement of Rights must state “I give permission” or “I understand that video/
audio recording will be used” and have a separate signature line.

When ensuring confidentiality, you should state that
material will be kept in a locked file cabinet only available to researchers, by
using coding for names, or similar methods that would assure confidentiality.

All surveys or questionnaires
on the Clark web site must be set up by Clark’s ITS (Information Technology
Services) office to ensure anonymity.

Anonymous or Confidential

Anonymous: No obvious or easy way to identify participants (a face-to-face encounter can not be anonymous).

Confidential: keeping secure from scrutiny of others, although the identity of the person may be known.